For many people, Easter is generally a happy time of year. During this time of year, people typically celebrate Easter by dying eggs in a wonderful variety of colors. However, conventional egg dyes are known to penetrate the shell of the dyed egg and contaminate the interior of the shell and the egg therein. Additionally, dyed eggs have a short and discrete shelf-life before rotting begins to occur. Many organizations, such as churches, have moved away from using dyed natural eggs due to the associated contamination and rotting problems. Dyed natural eggs placed in a grass yard that are not found during an egg hunting game are eventually found much later due to their foul aroma. In essence, this kind of contamination and rotting can quickly turn a happy Easter into a sad occasion.
To solve the contamination and rotting problem, many people now use artificial eggs or, more particularly stated, plastic eggs. It is well known in the art to make artificial eggs from plastic in a wide variety of colors. These artificial eggs may be separable so that a premium or novelty item, such as candy or a toy, may be placed inside. However, such plastic eggs cannot be dyed with conventional egg dyes, such as Easter egg dyes produced and distributed by Durkee French Foods of Wayne, N.J. Essentially, the fun of dying Easter eggs is lost when a celebrant is forced to use such conventional plastic eggs.
There are a variety of patents that describe hollow breakable objects, similar to eggs, capable of containing a premium or novelty item. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,605 entitled "Hollow Decorative Object Containing Novelties" and invented by DeLamar discloses a hollow decorative object, in the general shape of an egg with a flat base region, containing inside one or more novelty items. The hollow decorative object is made from unfired pottery clay. In this manner, the outer shell of the hollow decorative object is sufficiently hard and shape retaining for normal handling but is still capable of being cut open with a knife. In other words, by only hardening the material without firing it, an opening may be cut into the hollow decorative object through which the novelty items can be removed without otherwise breaking or damaging the hollow decorative object. However, such a hollow decorative object is not coated so that it can be dyed with conventional egg dyes. Furthermore, such a hollow decorative object is not biodegradable.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,658 entitled, "Pinatas" and invented by de Sanz describes two equal spherical halves making a hollow body. Toys and candy are typically inserted within the two halves as novelty items. The halves are glued together with adhesive. The halves are made of extruded polystyrene, which is strong, light, and frangible. While remaining breakable like a natural egg, such a hollow body made of extruded polystyrene is not capable of being dyed like a natural egg using conventional egg dyes. Furthermore, the hollow body of extruded polystyrene is not biodegradable.
In summary, there is a need for a breakable hollow object in the shape of an egg which contains a premium or novelty item, prevents contamination of the interior of the object, prevents spoilage of the premium or novelty item, and is dyeable with conventional egg dye similar to a natural egg.